Uzhavar Angadis to sell all the agri products across TN: Apoorva

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Department Secretary Apoorva on Tuesday said that the agricultural produce and value-added products which are produced by farmers will be marketed under the government brand through the Uzhavar Angadis.

Elaborating on the new scheme, Apoorva said the Uzhavar Sandhais (farmers' market) and Uzhavar Angadis (Farmers' store) are different.

"Farmers can directly come to Uzhavar Sandhai and sell their products (vegetables and greens). But, in Uzhavar Angadis, products produced by farmers will be marketed under the government brand through the Department of Agriculture. Along with vegetables and greens, other agricultural products such as fruits, millets, rice varieties, and value-added agri products will be marketed through Uzhavar Angadis. People can avail the rare, low yield agri products through the 100 new outlets," she detailed.

Addressing reporters after the Agri Budget 2024-25 in the Namakkal Kavignar Maligai in Secretariat, the Agricultural Production Commissioner Apoorva said, "The aim of this Agri budget is the welfare of the people from soil fertility. Conservation of soil is a major project in this budget. In order to maintain the physical health of the people, distribution of traditional rice seeds with reduced sugar content (low glycemic index) and similar projects like research on rice varieties will be carried out."

Referring to the provision of free neem tree sapling, Apoorva said that all the schemes have been brought to encourage organic farming, adding that the budget has been tabled in a way suitable for all the farmers in the State.

Responding to a question related to the procurement of sugarcane, C Vijayaraj Kumar, Commissioner of Sugar said, "The sugarcane cultivation has reduced from 3 lakh hectares to 1.5 lakh hectares. If sugarcane is to be produced according to the sugarcane mills, the sugarcane farmers have to be given incentives. Therefore, Rs 195 has been given for the last three years as an additional incentive than the one announced by the Centre. But, now the Tamil Nadu government has increased the additional incentive to Rs 215."

"There is a possibility of getting Rs 3,134 per tonne from the Centre and State, and this is also likely to increase depending upon the squeeze quality," he noted.